San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor confirmed his office is investigating a criminal complaint at the San Benito County Free Library.
“Due to it being an ongoing and active investigation, I am not going to comment further on any specifics at this time,” Taylor said. “Any information released will compromise the investigation.”
San Benito County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa announced at the April 25 Board of Supervisors meeting that longtime librarian Nora Conte had retired “as of last week.”
He said Manny Gonzalez was going to serve as the interim librarian and temporary assistant county administrative officer. Espinosa said Gonzalez had 12 years of experience in library services and also held the position of assistant county administrative officer in Monterey County.
“I’ve always described the library as the little library that could,” Supervisor Bea Gonzales said at the April 25 meeting when she recited the proclamation for National Library Week in the county. “You’ve always been understaffed, underfunded and under your former leadership you have been phenomenal serving the community.”
She added, “I’m hoping that you all can continue in the same vein and in Nora’s legacy.”
San Benito County Public Information Officer Monica Leon confirmed to BenitoLink on May 8 that in addition to Nora’s retirement, other staff members submitted their resignation but could not disclose how many. She also said she could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
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